Wiktionary

hun

See also: Appendix:Variations of "hun"
Languages (30)
Translingual • English
Alemannic German • Breton • Catalan • Danish • Dutch • Hokkien • Hungarian • Indonesian • Iu Mien • Label • Malay • Mandarin • Middle English • Middle Welsh • Mizo • North Frisian • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Danish • Old English • Old Galician-Portuguese • Old High German • Romanian • Tetum • Vietnamese • Welsh • Yoruba • Yucatec Maya
Page categories

Translingual

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Etymology

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Clipping of English Hungarian.

Symbol

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hun

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Hungarian.

See also

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English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Clipping of honey with pronunciation spelling.

Noun

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hun (plural huns)

  1. (informal) Alternative spelling of hon (“affectionate abbreviation of honey”).
    • 2025 June 13, Marina Hyde, “So social media has broken even Elon Musk. I’m forced to ask: U OK hun?”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      So social media has broken even Elon Musk. I’m forced to ask: U OK hun? [title]
  2. (UK, slang) A woman perceived as basic, brash, working class and fond of alcohol.
    • 2023 January 25, Laura Craik, “They’re glamorous, ageless and British – the rise of the high-end hun”, in The Telegraph‎[2]:
      Answer: you are a hun – but a high-end hun, one who knows her wine, her music, her interiors and her labels, and whose reluctance to do Dry January, or go vegan makes her such great company, this month and every month.
    • 2024 March 29, Louis Staples, “Natalie Cassidy: ‘I’m very proud to be a hun’”, in i‎[3]:
      It’s no wonder she’s become a central figure in “hun culture” – an online subculture that idolises a certain strata of famous working-class British women, while also taking the mick out of her leopard print kettle and weakness for a premixed gin-in-a-tin cocktail.
  3. (slang) A woman involved in a multi-level marketing scheme, especially one who pushes it on social media.
    • 2019 July 10, Jessica Lindsay, “Hunzoning is the trend that sees you going from friend to MLM recruit”, in Metro‎[4]:
      This corporate love-bombing can serve a hun well, bagging them new downlines and potentially more money (MLMs are renowned for extremely low pay).
    • 2024 April 18, Aimee Pearcy, “Why Reddit and TikTok are hating on MLM 'huns'”, in Business Insider‎[5]:
      Instead of blaming MLM "huns," we should direct our anger at the companies that are knowingly putting so many people in debt and alienating them from their communities.
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Clipping of Hungarian partridge.

Noun

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hun (plural huns)

  1. A grey partridge.

Etymology 3

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Noun

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hun (plural huns)

  1. Alternative form of hoon (“Indian gold coin”).

Anagrams

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Alemannic German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle High German hunt, from Old High German hunt, from Proto-Germanic *hundaz. Cognate with German Hund, Dutch hond, English hound, Icelandic hundur.

Noun

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hun m

  1. (Formazza) dog

References

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Breton

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Noun

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hun ?

  1. sleep

Catalan

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Late Latin Hunni.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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hun m (plural huns, feminine huna, feminine plural hunes)

  1. Hun
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Further reading

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Danish

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Etymology

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From Old Norse hón (“she”), from Proto-Norse *ᚺᚨᚾᚢ (*hanu), the feminine form, with u-umlaut, of *ᚺᚨᚾᚨᛉ (*hanaʀ) (= Danish han (“he”), Old Norse hann).

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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hun (objective case hende, possessive hendes)

  1. (personal) she

See also

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Danish personal pronouns
Number Person Type Nominative Oblique Possessive
common neuter plural
Singular First – jeg mig min mit mine
Second modern / informal du dig din dit dine
formal (uncommon) De Dem Deres
Third masculine (person) han ham hans
feminine (person) hun hende hendes
common (noun) den dens
neuter (noun) det dets
indefinite man en ens
reflexive – sig sin sit sine
Plural First modern vi os vores
archaic / formal vor vort vore
Second – I jer jeres
Third – de dem deres
reflexive – sig

References

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Noun

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hun c (singular definite hunnen, plural indefinite hunner)

  1. female, she

Declension

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Declension of hun
common
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative hun hunnen hunner hunnerne
genitive huns hunnens hunners hunnernes

References

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Originally a mere spelling variant of hen.[1]

Possessive hun started replacing haar from the 15th century, first only for masculine and neuter plural.

Pronoun

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hun (personal)

  1. dative case of the third-person plural personal pronoun: them, to them
  2. (proscribed) accusative case of the third-person plural personal pronoun: them
Usage notes
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The difference between hen (as direct object) and hun (as indirect object) does not stem from actual language usage, but was created artificially by the prescriptive grammarian Christiaen van Heule in the 17th century in an attempt to differentiate between the accusative (direct object) and dative case (indirect object), a distinction that was then commonly made in the definite article and certain pronouns, but not the personal pronouns.

In practice, hen and hun have been used interchangeably in Modern Dutch since the language has lost its grammatical case system. Many native speakers are not aware or have trouble remembering when to use one over the other, in part because of the rule's artificiality, in part because the distinction in form between the accusative and dative case has not been preserved anywhere else in the language. As a consequence, it is common to hear sentences where they are used in the exactly opposite way from van Heule's rule; for example:

  • Hij heeft hun verraden. (“He has betrayed them.”)
  • Ze zijn met hun uitgegaan. (“They have gone out with them.”)
  • Ik heb het hen gegeven. (“I have given it to them.”)

When the pronoun is unstressed, the problem can be circumvented by using the reduced form ze:

  • Hij heeft ze verraden.
  • Ze zijn met ze uitgegaan.
  • Ik heb het ze gegeven.

For more information, see the article in the Dutch Wikipedia.

Derived terms
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Determiner

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hun (dependent possessive, independent possessive hunne)

  1. their; third-person plural possessive determiner
    Ken je hun broer?
    Do you know their brother?
Declension
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Dutch personal pronouns
subject object possessive reflexive genitive5
singular full unstr. full unstr. full unstr. pred.
1st person ik 'k1 mij me mijn m'n1 mijne me mijner, mijns
2nd person jij je jou je jouw je jouwe je jouwer, jouws
2nd person archaic or regiolectal gij ge u – uw – uwe u uwer, uws
2nd person formal u – u – uw – uwe u, zich7 uwer, uws
3rd person masculine hij ie1 hem 'm1 zijn z'n1 zijne zich zijner, zijns
3rd person feminine zij ze haar h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 haar h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 hare zich harer, haars
3rd person neuter het 't1 het 't1 zijn z'n1 zijne zich zijner, zijns
3rd person gender-neutral8 hen – hen – hun – hunne zich hunner, huns
plural full unstr. full unstr. full unstr. pred.
1st person wij we ons – ons, onze2 – onze ons onzer, onzes
2nd person jullie je jullie je jullie je – je –
2nd person archaic or regiolectal6 gij ge u – uw – uwe u uwer, uws
2nd person formal u – u – uw – uwe u, zich7 uwer, uws
3rd person zij ze hen3, hun4 ze hun – hunne zich hunner, huns

1) Not as common in written language.
2) Inflected as an adjective.
3) In prescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative).
4) In prescriptivist use, used only as indirect object (dative).
5) Archaic. Nowadays used for formal, literary or poetic purposes, and in fixed expressions.
6) To differentiate from the singular gij, gelle (object form elle) and variants are commonly used colloquially in Belgium. Archaic forms are gijlieden and gijlui ("you people").
7) Zich is preferred if the reflexive pronoun immediately follows the subject pronoun u, e.g. Meldt u zich aan! 'Log in!', and if the subject pronoun u is used with a verb form that is identical with the third person singular but different from the informal second person singular, e.g. U heeft zich aangemeld. 'You have logged in.' Only u can be used in an imperative if the subject pronoun is not overt, e.g. Meld u aan! 'Log in!', where u is the reflexive pronoun. Otherwise, both u and zich are equally possible, e.g. U meldt u/zich aan. 'You log in.'
8) Not officially recognized in standard Dutch. It has gained popularity, especially in mainstream media and queer circles, as a respectful term for non-binary individuals.

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Etymology 2

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Likely a replacement of or based on dialectal Dutch hullie or a variant thereof, which is a contraction of hunlieden or hunlui, a compound of hun ("them") + lieden or lui (both meaning "men, people"), which then translates roughly into "them-people". Possibly reinfluenced by or confused with the possessive hun. This etymology explains why usage of hun occurs only when referring to people, never to objects. It's similar to dialectal zun often used colloquially in the Belgian province of Antwerp, which is a contraction of ze ("they") + hun ("them"), and which is also only used for people. Also compare Afrikaans hulle, which also stems from hunlui, but is now used also for things. For more information, see the article in the Dutch Wikipedia.

Pronoun

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hun (personal)

  1. (proscribed, regiolectal, Netherlands) The nominative case of the third-person plural personal pronoun: they (only referring to people)
    Synonyms: zijlui, zijlieden
    Hun hebben een mooi huis. ― They have a nice house.
Usage notes
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  • The use of hun as a subject is considered incorrect or substandard by most speakers, both in written and spoken language, and only occurs in the Netherlands.
  • For a 3rd person plural pronoun referring to people only, zijlui or zijlieden can be used instead.

References

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  1. ^ van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “hun”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute: “In het meervoud van het persoonlijk voornaamwoord voor de 3e persoon bestond deze vorm in het Middelnederlands in diverse varianten, waarvan hen en hun de belangrijkste waren. Wrsch. waren dit uitsluitend spellingvarianten van het woord /hən/.”

Hokkien

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For pronunciation and definitions of hun – see 分 (“to divide; to separate; to distribute; to allocate; to assign; to allot; etc.”).
(This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 分).

Hungarian

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Latin Hunni.[1][2]

Adjective

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hun (not comparable)

  1. Hunnic, Hunnish (of or relating to the Huns)
Declension
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Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
singular plural
nominative hun hunok
accusative hunt hunokat
dative hunnak hunoknak
instrumental hunnal hunokkal
causal-final hunért hunokért
translative hunná hunokká
terminative hunig hunokig
essive-formal hunként hunokként
essive-modal — —
inessive hunban hunokban
superessive hunon hunokon
adessive hunnál hunoknál
illative hunba hunokba
sublative hunra hunokra
allative hunhoz hunokhoz
elative hunból hunokból
delative hunról hunokról
ablative huntól hunoktól
non-attributive
possessive – singular 		huné hunoké
non-attributive
possessive – plural 		hunéi hunokéi

Noun

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hun (plural hunok)

  1. Hun (a member of a nomadic tribe)
Declension
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Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
singular plural
nominative hun hunok
accusative hunt hunokat
dative hunnak hunoknak
instrumental hunnal hunokkal
causal-final hunért hunokért
translative hunná hunokká
terminative hunig hunokig
essive-formal hunként hunokként
essive-modal — —
inessive hunban hunokban
superessive hunon hunokon
adessive hunnál hunoknál
illative hunba hunokba
sublative hunra hunokra
allative hunhoz hunokhoz
elative hunból hunokból
delative hunról hunokról
ablative huntól hunoktól
non-attributive
possessive – singular 		huné hunoké
non-attributive
possessive – plural 		hunéi hunokéi
Possessive forms of hun
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. hunom hunjaim
2nd person sing. hunod hunjaid
3rd person sing. hunja hunjai
1st person plural hununk hunjaink
2nd person plural hunotok hunjaitok
3rd person plural hunjuk hunjaik

Etymology 2

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From hol.

Adverb

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hun

  2. (dialectal) alternative form of hol (“where”)
Derived terms
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References

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  1. ^ hun in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN.  (See also its 2nd edition.)
  2. ^ hun in Tótfalusi, István. Magyar etimológiai nagyszótár (’Hungarian Comprehensive Dictionary of Etymology’). Budapest: Arcanum Adatbázis, 2001; Arcanum DVD Könyvtár →ISBN

Further reading

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  • (Hun, Hunnic): hun in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
  • (where [dialectal]): hun in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Indonesian

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Etymology

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From Malay hun, from Hokkien 分 (hun, “to divide; to separate; to distribute; to allocate; to assign; to allot; etc”).

Noun

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hun (plural hun-hun)

  1. (historical) hoon (A unit of weight equivalent to one hundredth of a tahil); candareen
    Synonym: kenderi
    • 1918, Merari Siregar, chapter I, in Si Djamin dan Si Djohan‎[6], Weltevreden: Balai Pustaka:
      „Kasi tjandoe empat hoen," kata perempoewan itoe dengan soewara agak njaring kepada seorang hèlper (penolong) jang sedang doedoek menghadapi médja, Ditentang djendéla ketjil, tempat orang membeli tjandoe.
      ["Kasih candu empat hun," kata perempuan itu dengan suara agak nyaring kepada seorang helper yang sedang duduk menghadapi meja, di tentang jendela kecil tempat orang membeli candu.]
      "Give me four hoons of opium," she said somewhat loudly to a helper sitting at a table by a small window where opium was sold.

Further reading

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Iu Mien

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Etymology

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From Chinese 園 (MC hjwon).

Noun

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hun

  1. garden

Label

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Etymology

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Compare Tolai vudu and Patpatar hudu.

Noun

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hun

  1. banana

References

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  • Mosel, Ulrike (1980), Tolai and Tok Pisin: the influence of the substratum on the development of New Guinea Pidgin (Pacific Linguistics; Series B, no. 73)‎[7], Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN

Malay

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Noun

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hun (plural hun-hun or hun2)

  1. A unit of weight equal to one hundredth of a tahil.

Mandarin

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Romanization

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hun (hun5 / hun0, Zhuyin ˙ㄏㄨㄣ)

  1. nonstandard spelling of hūn
  2. nonstandard spelling of hún
  3. nonstandard spelling of hǔn
  4. nonstandard spelling of hùn

Usage notes

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  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

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Noun

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hun

  1. alternative form of hund (“hundred”)

Middle Welsh

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Pronunciation

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Numeral

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hun

  1. h-prothesized form of un

Mutation

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Mutated forms of un
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
un unchanged unchanged hun

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Middle Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Mizo

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Noun

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hun

  1. time

North Frisian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old Frisian hond. Cognates include West Frisian hân.

Noun

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hun f (plural hunen)

  1. (Föhr-Amrum) hand
    a rocht(er) hun ― the right hand

Usage notes

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  • One of the original feminines that still commonly take the reduced article a (as above). See at for further information.

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology 1

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From Danish hun, from Old Norse hón.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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hun (accusative henne, genitive hennes)

  1. she
Derived terms
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See also

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Norwegian Bokmål personal pronouns
Number Person Type Nominative Oblique Possessive
feminine masculine neuter plural
Singular First – jeg meg mi min mitt mine
Second general du deg di din ditt dine
formal (rare) De Dem Deres
Third feminine (person) hun henne hennes
masculine (person) han ham / han hans
feminine (noun) den dens
masculine (noun)
neuter (noun) det dets
reflexive – seg si sin sitt sine
Plural First – vi oss vår vårt våre
Second general dere deres
formal (very rare) De Dem Deres
Third general de dem deres
reflexive – seg si sin sitt sine
  • ho (Nynorsk)
  • hoe (Nynorsk)

Etymology 2

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Norwegian Bokmål Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nb

From Old Norse húnn (“a die”).

Alternative forms

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Noun

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hun m (definite singular hunen, indefinite plural huner, definite plural hunene)

  1. back board

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology 1

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hun

From Old Norse húnn (“bear cub”),[1] from Proto-Germanic *hūnaz.

Noun

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hun m (definite singular hunen, indefinite plural hunar, definite plural hunane)

  1. a bear cub
    Synonym: bjørnunge

Etymology 2

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Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn
 
bakhunar

From Old Norse húnn (“die”).[1]

Alternative forms

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Noun

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hun m (definite singular hunen, indefinite plural hunar, definite plural hunane)

  1. back part of a log that might still be used as a plank

Etymology 3

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From Old Norse húnar, húnir pl.

Noun

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hun m (definite singular hunen, indefinite plural hunar, definite plural hunane)

  1. a Hun (a member of a nomadic tribe from Central Asia)
    Synonym: hunar

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “hun” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
  2. ^ Language Council of Norway, Spelling decisions since 2012 (in Norwegian, retrieved 12.22.20)
  • “hun”, in Norsk Ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet, Oslo: Samlaget, 1950-2016

Old Danish

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Etymology

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From Old Norse hón.

Pronoun

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hun

  1. she / it (feminine nominative pronoun)

Descendants

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  • Danish: hun

Old English

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Etymology

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Unclear. Possibly a shortening of hund (“dog”) or from Old Norse hunn (“bear cub”).

Noun

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hun m

  1. a common element in given names

References

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  • Elizabeth Okasha (2011), Women's Names in Old English, London, England: Routledge, page 65

Old Galician-Portuguese

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Article

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hun

  1. alternative form of ũu

Old High German

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Proper noun

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hun

  1. manuscript spelling of Hūn, nominative singular of Hūni

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French Huns, from Latin Hunni.

Noun

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hun m (plural huni)

  1. Hun

Declension

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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative hun hunul huni hunii
genitive-dative hun hunului huni hunilor
vocative hunule hunilor

Tetum

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Etymology

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From *pun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *puqun, compare Malay pohon.

Noun

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hun

  1. bottom, base
  2. beginning
  3. origin

Vietnamese

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Typical Central and Southern Vietnamese retention of medial *u, which often developed into ‹ô› (or ‹o›) in Northern dialects; later strengthened with the use of "slang" to avoid awkward situations. Compare rún vs. rốn, thúi vs. thối.

Verb

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hun • (㖧)

  1. Central Vietnam and Southern Vietnam form of hôn (“to kiss”)
Usage notes
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  • The Northern form with [o] is pretty much never used in daily speech by speakers of Central and Southern dialects, although they might choose to use it in formal writing.
Synonyms
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Etymology 2

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    Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 熏 (SV: huân).

    Verb

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    hun • (焝, 熏, 燻)

    1. to smoke (to preserve or prepare (food) for consumption by treating with smoke)
    Derived terms
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    Anagrams

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    Welsh

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    Pronunciation

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    Etymology 1

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    Lexicalised h-prothesised form of un.

    Pronoun

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    hun

    1. (with possessive determiner) self
      Synonym: hunan
      fy hun ― myself
      ei hun ― himself, herself
      ein hun ― ourselves
    2. (with possessive determiner preceding both itself and the noun) own
      Synonym: hunan
      fy ngeiriau fy hun ― my own words
      ei syniad ei hun ― his/her own idea
      ein cartref ein hun ― our own home

    Usage notes

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    • Hun tends to be more common in the north and synonymous hunan in the south, although plural hunain is also found in north at times.

    Personal forms

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    Personal forms (literary & colloquial)
    singular plural
    first person fy hun ein hun
    second person dy hun eich hun
    third person ei hun m
    ei hun f     		eu hun

    Numeral

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    hun

    1. h-prothesized form of un
      ei hun ei hun ― her own (one)
      (Compare: ei un ei hun ― his own (one))

    Mutation

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    Mutated forms of un
    radical soft nasal h-prothesis
    un unchanged unchanged hun

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    Etymology 2

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    From Proto-Brythonic *hʉn, from Proto-Celtic *sounos, from Proto-Indo-European *swépnos (“sleep”).

    Noun

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    hun f (plural hunau, not mutable)

    1. sleep
    Derived terms
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    References

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    • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “hun”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

    Yoruba

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    Etymology 1

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    Cognate with Yoruba sùn.

    Pronunciation

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    Verb

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    hùn

    1. (Ikalẹ, Ilajẹ) to sleep
      Kítà é hùn. ― The dog is sleeping.
    Derived terms
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    Etymology 2

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    Obìnrin tó ń hun aṣọ náà rèé

    Pronunciation

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    Verb

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    hun

    1. to weave
      Mo fẹ́ hun aṣọ òfì wọn, fún ayẹyẹ wọn, lọ́sẹ̀ tó ń bọ̀. ― I want to weave their clothes, for their celebration, this upcoming week
    Derived terms
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    Yucatec Maya

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    Numeral

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    hun

    1. obsolete spelling of jun
    Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=hun&oldid=90068848"